Jury selection to begin Monday in county commissioner trial

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, July 10, 2010

After two delays, the trial of Hale County Commissioner Gary Koelder is scheduled to take place this week.

Koelder is charged with abuse of official capacity and theft of property greater than or equal to $1,500 but less than $20,000. Details surrounding the charges remain unclear.

The trial originally was scheduled for May, but Koelder was granted a continuance due to his son's graduation from Cotton Center High School.

It was rescheduled to begin June 1 but the special prosecutor in the case, Tina Davis-Rincones of Muleshoe, amended the felony indictment the Friday before. That meant the case could not go to trial for at least 10 days.

Davis-Rincones, a former assistant district attorney in Hale County who also worked for the city attorney's office here, said at the time that she amended the indictment to include multiple dates in the theft charge in order to reflect a "continued scheme."

Sixty-fourth District Judge Rob Kinkaid then rescheduled the trial a third time, and jury selection is to begin Monday.

Testimony could begin Monday afternoon.

Koelder was indicted Nov. 5 and arrested later that day.

After being booked into the Hale County jail around 9:30 p.m., he bonded out around midnight.

Koelder, who is being represented by Rod Hobson of Lubbock, was elected as County Commissioner Precinct 3 in 2004 and reelected in 2008.

He continues to serve as commissioner.

The trial comes on the heels of the arrest and resignation of former Precinct 1 County Commissioner Neal Burnett on similar charges in June 2009.

Burnett, who apparently used county-issued credit cards to purchase gas for his personal vehicle as well as misappropriated fuel from the precinct barn, pleaded guilty to two of three charges and received three years probation, a day in county jail and a $12,000 fine.

Meanwhile, officials have said investigations by the Texas Rangers of two other commissioners - Benny Cantwell and Mario Martinez - are forthcoming.